142 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 16, 1886. 



-AafireSBS all aynmmicaUom to the Forest, and Stream Piih. Oo. 



HUNTING IN THE HIMALAYAS. 

 Lights and Shades of an Indian Forester's Life. 

 IS. 



CAMP GANGES, Lower Gurliwal. — Beaching camp 

 after our night of weary watching for the man-eater, 

 G. went to his own room to dispose of his correspondence, 

 of which a goodly file awaited him, and to pore over his 

 papers, while I summoned the sheristidar and sat down 

 to my arrears of work, for I knew that G. would be drag- 

 ging me all over the place during the ensuing week. He 

 turned up about 3 o'clock, rod in hand, and an hour later 

 I was glad to follow his example. He was nowhere in 

 sight, so I bent on a gold spoon, and fished away for an 

 hour in a deep hole full of fish just below the bimgalow, 

 without getting a run. Wearied at length I tried a suc- 

 cession of holes fm'ther up stream, with no better luck. 



Fishing has this disadvantage over shooting, that you 

 can have no sport without the volrmtary cooperation of 

 the fish; but it has this advantage, that fish are fickle, 

 and may join in at any unexpected moment. I don't 

 absolutely assert that I was influenced by this train of 

 philosophy in returning to the fii'st hole. I beheve, in 

 fact, my mind was mauily active on the subject of* the 

 man-eater and our failure to come to terms ^vith him, but 

 whether by any thread of philosophic reasoning weaving 

 itseK with m}'- meditations, or simply "promiscuously," 

 I returned to the first hole, cast just where the rapids en- 

 tered it, and stru.ck my fish the first cast. The hole was 

 right under the high bank, so that I could not get down 

 stream, on my side, and finding I had a heavy fish on, I 

 walked across the stream, nowhere much more than a 

 foot deep. The fish never left the hole, which was about 

 80yds. long and 20yds. wide. He dashed about in it in 

 lively style for about ten minutes, and then came in to 

 take a look at me, which apparently produced no very 

 ftivorable impression, for he was away again in good 

 style. This last round exhausted him, and when he once 

 more yielded to the reins it was unconditionally, and I 

 soon had him on the dry shingle. Reaching the bank I 

 saw G. approaching, his man api^arently well laden, and 

 waiting for them to join me, I found he'had five fish, the 

 weights of which he requested me to assess. I gave a 

 seven, three tens and a fifteen, and estimating my own at 

 twenty pounds, asked G.'s verdict. He declined an 

 opinion, but produced his patent balance, and weighed 

 the fish separately, getting an eight, two nines, an eleven 

 and a sixteen; my own was eighteen pounds. 



Charley turned up soon after, and we sat down to a 

 good forester's dinner of venison soup, fish, corned beef, 

 black partridge and curried peacock. G. was excessively 

 put out about the man-eater, and was scarcely able to 

 touch on any other subject the whole evening, after Char- 

 ley's adventiu'e had been discussed and commented on. 

 He was convinced that the beast hact heard us coming, 

 and either slunk off at once to return no more or perhaps 

 lain in hiding and watched the whole process of muchan 

 building before he stole away. In this I agi'eed with Mm, 

 for if the beast had.gone off to drink before we came, he 

 would most assuredly have come back. At one moment 

 G. was almost resolved to go straight back the next morn- 

 ing and see if the kill liad been touched since. Then 

 there was a lament that I had left the sti-ychnine in the 

 howdah when we deserted the elephants. The liaal con- 

 clusion of it aU was that there was no safe clue to follow 

 up, and would be none until we heard of another kill, and 

 as G. had work on the Ramgunga, the man-eater was 

 necessarily postponed for another ojiportunity. 



The next morning I took G. along with me to inspect 

 the firelines, which we got over by 10 o'clock, and being- 

 then seven miles up stream we decided to come do^^^l the 

 lower bank, inspect the river with an eye to my proposed 

 clearing operations, and do some shikar. Charley was 

 taken along with us, as his opportuixities for getting an 

 elephant mount were few, and G. had determined that he 

 was not to get an elephant for the fii-st season, nor indeed 

 so long as lus work should be concentrated in one sub- 

 division. 



We devoted an hour to the quest of tiger, and bad 

 allowed many hog-deer to escape unmolested, when at 

 length a good stag rushed out and stood at twenty yards. 

 G. fired, the beast made a startled motion, pricldng his 

 ears but never tm-ned his eyes toward us, and G. fired a 

 second shot; beyond a quick turn of the head and ears 

 there was no other movement; the stag, startled at the 

 report, but unable to determine whence it came, stood ir- 

 resolute, while G. fired shot after shot. I looked on laugh- 

 ing until the tenth shot, when Charley could stand it no 

 longer, and dropped him with a well-directed shot from 

 his smooth-bore. G. looked pale ^vith vexation, and my 

 laughing didn't improve matters much. 



"Did you ever see your rifle tested at a mark?" I asked. 

 "Oh, the rifle is right enough," he said. "I suppose there's 

 something wrong vnth me this morning." "I don't 

 know," I'said, "every shot went over, and if you test your 

 weapon at 20yds. at a mark, I believe you will find it rise 

 six inches or nearly." This was the true explanation, and 

 as soon as G. realized it he was himself again. A double 

 express with a high ti'ajectory may make a good bag in 

 able hands, and account for many animals at short dis- 

 tance, shot on the rim, with the sportsman above his game, 

 and G, had never even thought of making allowance, 

 although he was an old sportsman and a good shot, but a 

 steady pot, broadsides on, at less than 20yds., left nothing 



to c1i3jHCG« 



A little "later Charley bowled over a hind, wliich set G.'s 

 tongue going, and when on opening her she proved with 

 fawn, the lecture was renewed and driven home forcibly. 

 We next took a long sti-etch of the river, and taking the 

 elephants midstream, I pointed out the amount of work 

 necessary for a clear mid-channel. Wliile still midstream 

 G. caught up his rifle and fired. Following the du-ection 

 of Ms eye, I caught sight of a stag's head and shoulders 

 as he peered out from a tall clump about eighty yards off, 

 and saw Mm wheel short round at the shot; but he hardly 

 got his Qwn length before he fell over and had nearly 

 done struggling when we came up. 



It was now long past noon, and loading our stag we 

 pushed on for camp, which we reached without fm'ther 

 adventure; in fact, I kept G. near the river's bank at all 



but the angles, and as we got down stream there was no 

 cover very near the river. 



Getting home we went for our bathtubs while breakfast 

 was being prepared, and after the meal was disposed of 

 G. and I sat dovm to a discussion of my proposal of river 

 clearance. There was no provision in the budget for the 

 outlay, but I estimated to do it for fom- thousand rupees; 

 to save two thousand on timber carriage, divest one thou- 

 sand from fire lines, and charge the last thousand on the 

 first day of the new official year (April 1) if G. would 

 guarantee to secure sanction. G. had ah-eady discussed 

 my proposals at headquarters and secured provisional 

 sanction, subject to his oAvn approval, so impressmg on me 

 that he had not time to go into the matter thoroughly 

 and that all responsibility of failure or mistaken estimate 

 must rest on my head, lie bade me go on with the work, 

 promising oflicial instructions on Ms return from head- 

 quarters. I sent off for men at once, and the next morn- 

 ing commenced with fifty coolies which were increased to 

 a hundred by evening; I spent the day out with Charley 

 initiating him in the work, and by evening we had opened 

 up a good rafting channel between the holes below the 

 brmgalow, and another hole lower down. In the evening 

 I saw two bamboo contractors and agreed with them to 

 let them cut five hundred thousand bamboos in a virgin 

 forest up stream, to cleai" the river for them to be rafted 

 down to Boksar, and to transport them myself from 

 Boksai- down, for the privilege of using them as floats. 

 This settled I announced myself ready for departm-e, and 

 G. at once gave the word to march the next morning. 



Leaving Charley with plenty of work on hand m river 

 and fire path clearances, keeping stock of sawn timber 

 got out by our own men, both for export and in execu- 

 tion of local requisitions and with instinictions to send me 

 a daily budget of information under all heads, I once more 

 set off on my rambles Gangesward. G. proposed a day's 

 pig sticking en route, and as my hill pony was not fast 

 enough, he offered me a moimt, so we took oiu' spears along 

 with us. The first day's march was a long one, about 

 eight miles south, to the road, and ten miles west, and the 

 direct line from Boksar, over so rough a country that 

 we thought it better to make the detour. Reach- 

 ing the road we roimded the spur which hemaned 

 in the river on the right bank, skirting the base of the 

 hilly groimd in a northwesterly direction, that is above 

 the road. Here we put up a good many jungle fowl and 

 succeeded in bagging five. In the course of the march 

 too, G. laiocked over a four-horned anteloije and I bagged 

 a tiger cat, but although we put up a .great many spotted 

 deer, I saw but one stag and missed him ignominiously. 



We got to the camping ground about 1 o'clock, hot and 

 hungry, and saw that the camels had not long been in, 

 for the tents were only in com-se of erection, but we soon 

 forgot breakfast and everything else, on learmng that the 

 man-eater had bagged another victim, about twenty -five 

 miles to the west, that is to say forty-five miles westward 

 of where we had struck his last kill. The man who had 

 brought the news stepped forward and made Ms salaam, 

 and calling for chau's we sat down under a tree and heard 

 his story. He described the locality as a valley about ten 

 miles from the Ganges, and perhaps seven or eight miles 

 in from the road. At between 10 and 11 o'clock of the 

 day before, he and his father, who had come from the 

 settled villages of Upper Gurhwa.1, had reached the valley, 

 and were walking doAvn it toward the Ganges, he in ad- 

 vance and his father about five yards behind him, on a 

 narrow pathway fringed with high gi-ass on either side, 

 when he heard a long drawn aspiration like a sigh, ac- 

 companied with a slight rustUng noise; he looked round 

 and saw that a tiger had got his father by the back of the 

 neck, and took to Ms heels without waiting to study 

 further details. In answei- to a question from G. he said 

 his father made no cry, which was intelligible enough. 

 When a tiger seizes his prey from behind he invariably 

 gets his fangs on each side of the neck vertebi-as, and the 

 slightest twist renders death instantaneous, unless it be a 

 buSalo or similar powerful beast. The victim is dead 

 before he knows it. 



And now what was to be done? G, gave orders not to 

 remove the howdahs from the elephants, and proposed an 

 immediate start; I objected that we should arrive in the 

 evemng without camp, and too late to do anything, and 

 suggested as an amendment tliat we should start at mid- 

 night, reach the spot at daylight, beat the valley up 

 thoroughly, fire it if we. failed to put the beast up," and 

 then rejoin our camp, which, starting very early, might 

 make two marches and get in shortly after noon. G. was 

 very impatient and restless for action, but the amendment 

 was accepted, the howdahs removed, and in a little while 

 we sat down to discuss the aft'au- over a good breakfast. 



In the afternoon I lay down and took all I could out of 

 my charpoy, and maintained the same tactics after dumer, 

 and was Just beginning to doze off when the khansman 

 appeared to announce "coft'ee ready" in G.'s tent. Every- 

 tMng necessary for breakfast — milk, coffee essence, beer, 

 a cold loin of vemson and bread — were all packed m the 

 howdahs, and as soon as we had disposed of our coffee 

 and lighted our pipes we mounted to our seats and away. 



The journey was tedious; there was no moon, but the 

 air was clear and the stars shone brightly, and we went 

 on our way mdift'erent to the noises of the mght. The 

 jackal's howl, the leopard's deep noyaow, the stag's bel- 

 low, the startled rush through the underwood, fell on om- 

 ears by tiu-ns: but toward morning, just as we ap- 

 proached the branch road that led to our valley, the deep, 

 low, guttural notes of a tiger moving on our right set us 

 on the qui vive. He was traveling on a parallel line with 

 us, and judging from the sound, no more than sixty or 

 eighty yards off. Occasionally he would stop, for Ms 

 walk'was faster than om's, and once I was sure I saw Ms 

 eyes gleam, and as we were then close to the branch 

 road, I whispered to G. that if he would forge a Httle 

 ahead the tiger would ijrobably keep me company and 

 give Mm a chance for a snap shot on the road. The next 

 moment we were at the turning, and G. saw the beast 

 clear the road at a bound, but had no chance for a shot. 

 We heard the notes a httle longer on our left, but they 

 gradually grew fainter, and all was still. A few miles 

 more, and the voices of the night were succeeded by the 

 notes of birds greeting the first dawn; objects became 

 more distmct, and there remamed but one little saddle 

 for us to cross before we reached our destination, when 

 at once there burst on om* ears the wildest babel of sound, 

 of pam, of rage, of fuiy that ever mortal experienced or 

 conceived. The high notes were uuinistakably those of 

 a tiger, and for a moment I thought a boa-constrictor 

 must have got our late friend in Ms folds, but soon in the 



low notes we recognized the fierce wrath of some savage 

 boar which had presumably dodged the first spring and 

 was now doing battle for Ms life. 



We had pulled up at the fii'st soimd, and G. now started 

 into the jungle calling tome to come on; I called Mm 

 back and begged him to let them have it out first; the 

 battle was raging some 300yds. off, and after a whisjiered 

 conference, we effected a compromise, deciding to steal 

 up under cover of the noise and range oiuselves for a shot 

 at the fitting moment. We got up within 60yds. without 

 disturbing the combatants who were too much occupied 

 with their own pursuits to heed us, and concealing our- 

 selves partly, behind a clump of bamboo, looked on at 

 the spectacular concert. It was still too dark to make 

 out details very distinctly, the tiger had hold of the boar 

 about the libs with his claws and had fixed his fangs in 

 Ms withers, but the boar's head was under the tiger's 

 chest, and although the combatants pushed hither and 

 thither the relative positions were but little changed; all 

 the tiger's efforts to throw his hindquarters oft" and get clear 

 appeared in vam. By tMs time the general tone of the 

 concert was double bass, both boar and tiger indulging in 

 the low notes, but occasionally the tiger gave fortli a yell 

 of mingled pain and rage, and agam reverted to the low 

 notes and fought on. Tlie elephants were now getting 

 very excited, and could hardly be held in, the day broke 

 far enough to render the whole scene clear, and CI. tried 

 to steady his elephant for a shot, but in vain, when jjresently 

 the tiger relaxed his hold of fang and claw, and attempted 

 to spring oft", and the next moment, to my astonisliraent, 

 he was on his back and the boar on him; it was a short 

 moment of triumph ; the tiger once more seized the boar 

 m the embi-ace of his forepaws, when, quick as thought, 

 he gathered his hindlegs up under the boar's belly, and 

 as he stretched them out, cutting through flesh and en- 

 trails, the old boar fell over with a groan, stUl in his death 

 agony cranching the entrails of the tiger. Seeing that 

 the tiger was unable to rise, we took uij our elephants, 

 and as soon as we had quieted them a little, G. put m a 

 shot in the tiger's shoulder which finished him. The 

 tiger's belly was opened up th e whole length, and half his 

 entrails torn out and masticated. 



Apparently the boar had been on his guard and wheel- 

 ing sliai'p round and meeting the tiger on his spring, liis 

 tusk had ripped open the tiger with one stroke, and find- 

 ing himself pinioned by tooth and claws he had made the 

 most of his i^amful position, while the tiger crunched at 

 his shoulder blade and tore his ribs and flanks. He was 

 a powerful old fellow with formidable tusks, which I se- 

 cured with some difficulty, having nothing better than a 

 hunting knife to decapitate him with; but the day being 

 now fiilly broken we determined to go after tlic man- 

 eater without delay and leave boar's head and tiger where 

 they lay for the present. 



[TO BE CONTIKUED.] 



THE PARK SUPERINTENDENCY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Accordmg to promise I herewith submit a statement of 

 the charges made against me as Superintendent of the 

 Yellowstone National Park on the floor of Congress by 

 Mr. Henderson of Iowa and others; all of wMch charges 

 are false, as I am able to prove by the records of the 

 Department of t)ie Interior and by some of the best men 

 in Montana and Wyoming. 



It is charged that "I have become interested in a coal 

 mine, which is situated in the Park, and that immediately 

 thereafter, no doubt with the knowledge of the Senator 

 who mtroduced the bill, a. I'ill was introduced in the 

 Senate of the United States, which would cut off that 

 portion of the Pai'k, leaving it in my possession with a 

 title," This charge is false and wholly without foundation. 

 I am not mterested in a coal mine in the Park nor any- 

 where else and nevcn- was. The bill cutting- uft" tJie 

 Montana strip, whicli is the portion of the Park referred 

 to, was introduced by Senator Vest in the United States 

 Senate on the 4th day of February 1884, durmg Mr. 

 Arthur's administration and before I was appointed Super- 

 intendent of the Park. I am now and always have been 

 opposed to cutting off that portion of the Park, and told 

 Senator Vest so and asked Mm to have the biU amended 

 in that resjaect, or that section stricken out. That section 

 of the biU, I am informed, was wi-itten by Professor 

 Arnold Hague, a member of the Geological Burean, who 

 had been stationed in the Pai'k and who wasfamihar with 

 all the lines, and he desii-ed a change in the boundary fine 

 wMch would bring it down two miles south, so as to con- 

 form with the boundary Ime between the Territories of 

 Montana and Wyoming. There is a coal mme just within 

 the limits of the Park hear the road leading from Mam- 

 motli Hot Springs to Cinnabar, from wMch the hotels at 

 this place are supplied with coal. Last fall C. T. Hobart, 

 General Manager of the defunct "Yellowstone Park Im- 

 provement Company," before he left the Park, put a man 

 of the name of McMinn in charge of the mine, with 

 instructions to hold it. This man McMinn kept arotmd 

 Mm a lot of congenial companions. I considered him an 

 improper character to be allowed in the Park so I ordered 

 him to move out. He appealed to Mr. Hobart, who wrote 

 to the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary wrote 

 me in regard to tlie matter. I replied that McMinn had 

 been placed in charge of tlie coal mine by C. T. Hobart, 

 for the purpose of holding the mine in case the bill cutting 

 off the Montana strip of the Park jtassed Congress and be- 

 came a law, and that I did not propose to laeeome a party 

 to any such scheme by allowing Mm to remain in the 

 Park; all of wMcli the files of the Department will show. 



It has also been charged ' 'that 1 am at the head of the 

 'YelloAvstone Park Association,' a hotel company doing 

 busmess in the Park, and have leased hotel sites at all the 

 dift'erent places of mterest for the purpose of creating a 

 monopoly of the hotel business in the Park," aU of which 

 is false and without any foundation whatever. I have no 

 interest and never had in any hotel or other company or 

 association domg busmess m the Pm-k, nor have any 

 favors been extended to the "Yellowstone Park Associa- 

 tion" which have not been extended to all others doing 

 business in the Pai-k; and for the truth of this statement I 

 refer to the letter of Hon. C. Gibson, president of said 

 association, to the Pioneer Press of August 10, 1886. 



G. L. Henderson, who is a brother of Congressman 

 Henderson of Iowa, is the instigator of all these charges, 

 and was at one time an Assistant Supermtendont but was 

 dismissed by Secretary Lamar, a short time before I came 

 here. His son and daughter, W. J. and H. L. Henderson, 

 hold a lease in the Park at Mammoth Hot Springs on 



